Why present marijuana and young dancers on the front page?

02/13/2012

Hello WSH,
As a long time subscriber of the Herald, I have enjoyed many issues over the years. However I must comment on the lack of sound judgement regarding the pairing of stories and photographs for your recent front page for the 2/10/12 issue.

I am pro medical cannabis. I am not a mother. Still, my heart sank as I saw the headline and nearly full page story about medical cannabis, featuring a quarter page close-up of buds, accompanied by your sweet photo of 5 young dancers in the lower corner. What was the reasoning behind this choice of photos for your front page?

I can only imagine the parents of these young daughters being so proud to have their photo featured so prominently, yet perhaps awkwardly scrambling to find words to explain what the bud photo was about. The photo of these girls captures their youthful innocence and anxious joy for this exciting moment in their lives. They will find out about cannabis soon enough...thanks to you, perhaps even sooner. This pairing of stories shows your utter lack of respect and sensitivity for these girls and their families. Shame on you, Herald!

Both stories are newsworthy, but would have been more appropriately featured on seperate pages. If you want to publish a quality community newspaper, start thinking more about presentation of content. It's a harsh enough world out there.

Sincerely,
Elaine Dale

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